SL Trib: Why are Scientists Leaving the GOP?

Judy Fahys has another article in the Salt Lake Tribune, in which she asked Utah Scientists (especially those who are Republicans or used to be) why only 6% of scientists now identify with the GOP. I hope my fellow Republicans keep asking themselves that question.

Responses

It’s not so much scientists leaving GOP but the GOP jetissoning them in order to hold on to the few remaining strongholds of “the southern strategy”. Looking as an outsider.

I doubt whether the Democrats are a tempting location to move to either. So strategically, they’re better off losing them than losing the fundie xtian voters.

Though they’d ALSO never vote Democrat, but at least with these voters, there’s damn near nothing you can do that demonstrates hipocrisy that would stop them *believing* that you’re the party of fiscal conservatism, family values and Mom’s Apple Pie ™. So it’s better to keep them than give a third party an opportunity to split a vote and lose a seat.

Indeed if the Democrats hadn’t been so damn good at alienating THEIR power base in the wooing of disaffected Republicans, the last election would have been a landslide, which may have helped shake up GOP since no matter how much they like the power and privilege abuses they can get away with, they’d like to win the presidency far more.

The scientists aren’t leaving the Republicans, the GOP is jetissoning them.

See what I mean about abandoning? The GoP have abandoned their frickin job now.

There’s very little difference between R and D in many of the normal views of how politics goes. Left/Right, they’re both fairly hard-right to very hard-right. So no choice there. Socialism or Mercantilism? Both Mercantile. No choice there. Policies? No difference there.

But just this second ago I figured out where there still was a definite difference between the two parties. And mostly explaining why there’s no other differences too.

Obama is too busy trying to get everyone to hold hands, sing along, and work together to actually get anything done.

GoP leadership (mostly not actually GoP politicians) are too fixated on having to get their own way everywhere and therefore will stop rather than move if it is a compromise.

Obama needs to do some more “F-U, this is how it is, do it or GTFO”. GoP needs to do a hell of a lot more “I give in, you’re winning, we’ll see how this goes”